Microsoft, Yahoo Hold Meetings — Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. senior executives met this week to discuss Microsoft's proposal to acquire the Internet company but failed to resolve any of their differences, according to people familiar with the matter. — The meeting, which took place …

Microsoft evaluating Yahoo offer: source — SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp is evaluating its offer for Yahoo Inc in light of worsening market conditions, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday. — Microsoft has been repeatedly trying to engage Yahoo's board in discussions, this person said.

Yahoo's Foot Dragging On Deal Could Cost Them Plenty — What is the problem? I mean, seriously. Yahoo! has been sitting on a $42 billion unsolicited offer on the table from Microsoft for two months, and other than a bunch of caterwauling since, Yahoo hasn't done much one way or the other.

“Free” is Killing Us—Blame The VCs — I believe it should be possible to start a small business and to have a small number of profitable customers, and to earn a living. From there, it should be possible to work hard, and to grow your business into something substantial.

Free 2.0: Don't blame the VCs — A New York-based entrepreneur named Hank Williams has a guest post over at Silicon Alley Insider about how the tech economy is being ruined by the “freetards” (although he doesn't use that term). In a nutshell, Hank believes all the venture-backed startups …

Couple Sues Google Over “Street View” — Pittsburgh pair claims privacy invaded by posting of home photo — A Pittsburgh couple is suing Google for invasion of privacy, claiming that the web giant's popular “Street View” mapping feature has made a photo of their home available to online searchers.

Gates: Windows 7 may come ‘in the next year’ — MIAMI—Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on Friday indicated that Windows 7, the next major version of Windows, could come within the next year, far ahead of the development schedule previously indicated by the software maker.

Silverlight Roadmap questions — Silverlight is about 7 month old kid but it is already making such a big buzz. One of my colleague Rahul did excellent job in terms of putting up a FAQ regarding the roadmap — 1. When exactly will Silverlight support all the codecs that a standard Windows Media Player support?

AT&T's 700 MHz Strategy: LTE — The open access restrictions mandated by the Federal Communications Commission on portions of the recently auctioned 700 MHz spectrum were among the main reasons AT&T chose not to bid for that spectrum but opted instead to pay more for that of the B-Block …

Something Important Is On The Horizon In The Music Business — Having ceded the file based music opportunity (mp3s and drm'd file formats) to Apple, the recorded labels are now getting hip to the much bigger opportunity, streaming music. — Yes, it's true that listeners will still want to own files for a few more years.

Microsoft Unveils Web Series Slate — Microsoft unveiled an ambitious slate of original programming created for its multiple Web platforms, including the MSN portal, MSNBC.com and Xbox Live — Microsoft sent a direct message to the ad buying community on Thursday—everyone's software company is a hit-making digital media leader.

New iPhone to sport a case redesign? — Apple fanboys attack! We're pretty hesitant to believe this one for ourselves, although it would make sense. There's this image floating around that claims to be the back of the new 3G iPhone. Sportin' a glossy black finish …

Why e-book readers don't stand a chance — Although some people see a reason to buy a device just to read a book, I don't. Some have said that Amazon's Kindle is the savior of the e-book market. I don't believe it. Others say that e-book readers will kill the book publishing industry and bring it into the 21st century.

Popularity — It seems (according to one guru, but coming from this source, it's a left-handed compliment) that JavaScript is finally popular. — To me, a nerd from a tender age, this is something between a curse and a joke. (See if you are in my camp: isn't the green chick hotter?)

Yahoo news guru Budde joins DailyMe start-up — Neil Budde, editor-in-chief of news, finance, and sports at Yahoo, has joined a news aggregation start-up called DailyMe where he will be president and chief product officer. — Budde left Yahoo on December 12, 2007.